Pharmaceutical compounding involves the transfer of two or more of individual prescribed liquids and/or drugs from multiple source containers into a single collecting container, for the purpose of administering the mix of liquids and/or drugs intravenously to an individual in need. Presently, the pharmaceutical compounding of liquids and/or drugs takes places primarily at one of three sites. There are: (1) hospital based compounding performed by pharmacists or pharmacy technicians in the hospital pharmacy; (2) alternate site based compounding performed primarily by pharmacists or pharmacy technicians in the home care company pharmacy; and (3) compounding centers operated by any one of several major pharmaceutical or hospital supply companies.
The operational and performance demands upon these compounding systems and methodologies are becoming increasingly more complex and sophisticated, in terms of, e.g., safety, speed, reliability, accuracy, and overall user friendliness and ergonomics. The operational and performance demands upon these compounding systems and methodologies are also becoming increasingly more complex and sophisticated with regard to the management of patient and prescription information, in terms of providing an information path that starts with the clinician and finishes with the final product delivery to the end patient.
Interfacing of the system used by the doctor for example to enter a compound prescription/order for a patient has become a problem. Especially so where the order system is part of a larger system to which the compounder is not connected. Conventionally, in these situations the order is written or otherwise entered into the ordering system. The written order is then checked by the prescribing doctor or clinical pharmacist for accuracy. After approval, this printed order is provided to the pharmacy where it must now be reentered into the compounder system. The transcription of the written order is a source for errors resulting in a compound that does not match the intended prescription.
Alternatively, there are systems in place that electronically couple the order entry system and the pharmaceutical compounder. These systems, however, are complex and in the case of systems that do not share a common data protocol, require a translation interface. Further, these systems may not be desirable where autonomy of existing systems is required.
Therefore, what is needed is a system and method that addressed the problems of the prior art and provides for inputting of compounding data into a pharmaceutical compounded such that transcription errors are minimized if not eliminated entirely.